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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Does the Hassle of Scheduling Your Sitter Keep You from Much-Needed Grown-up Time?

Have you ever had a need for a sitter, and leave a message
for one not to hear back from her right away, all the while putting your plans
on hold? Or even worse, having other
sitters snatched up from you while you wait?
This has happened to me a couple times.
I have called and left a message for one sitter and didn't hear back
from her for a couple days. Meanwhile, I
was regretting not trying to get a hold of one of the other sitters we use. And once, she called back, but couldn't babysit. When I tried my other sitters,
they had just made plans that day before I called! And sometimes, I think during the day to call
the sitter in the evening, but by the time school is out, life gets hectic with
dinner and kids and all and I forget.
Before I know it, it is too late to call someone. Or I may think about it, but get distracted
on my way to the phone book. Sometimes,
this all prevents us from getting a sitter for some grown up time.

That is the problem.
Up till now, I didn’t think there was much of a solution, although I did
decide in my mind to give a 24 hour opportunity before I moved to the next
sitter on the list. But there is a
solution—SitterScout. SitterScout is an
easy way to reach your sitters—via text messaging! It works by setting up an online account with
a database of your sitters and their text number. When you need a sitter, you have the option
to send it to one sitter or all the sitters.
If you send it to all the sitters, the first one to confirm gets the
job. If you choose just one sitter, you
can also choose an order of sitters to text if she can’t do it.

I love the entire concept of Sitter Scout. It is easy to set up your account—just a few
quick questions. When you set it up with
a sitters phone number, they will get a message from you saying that they have
been added, so I would suggest first contacting your sitter and her parents to
make sure it is okay. The only time they
will receive a text is when you are looking for a sitter.

When you need a sitter, you just visit SitterScout and enter
the date and time, then select who you want.
Maybe you have a favorite sitter to ask first. If she declines, SitterScout will move on to
the next on the list. Maybe you want to
open it up to any sitter. You can send
it to any or all of the sitters you have.
The first one to respond gets the job.
If others respond afterwards, they automatically get the message, “Aww! Sorry, the job has already been filled. You’re on the waitlist. If the job reopens, you will be contacted
again. To be removed from the waitlist,
hit reply #no.” When a sitter responds, you are sent a text message informing you of the details.

So cool (or maybe I need to say “kewl”). So easy.
So today’s generation of sitters.
So totally free. I am lovin’ it! What a fun way to schedule your babysitters!

Disclosure: This is a Splash Media Campaign I received compensated to review SitterScout, but all opinions expressed are my honest thoughts and are not influenced by the compensation.

More about SitterScout:

The SitterScout Philosophy

SitterScout’s reason for being is to help
parents with babysitter logistics, with the end goal being to get parents out
of the house and into some much-needed grown-up time.

●We have a strong
belief that happy parents are better parents. To be happy, parents need time
away from their kids.

●There are many
products for/about kids. This one is for PARENTS.

●We want to
support and encourage parents in their efforts to recharge their batteries by
helping them make and find time for themselves.